DOVER -- Tom Vaccaro has been driving since he was 16 -- more than five decades -- and he believes older drivers get a bad rap.

Vaccaro, 71, has worked with dozens of drivers to help them bone up their skills as a volunteer for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

AARP’s Driver Safety Program has been in existence for years, and is aimed at helping anyone 50 or older improve performance behind the wheel.

Aging can be a sensitive issue for many drivers. The ability to drive is a mark of independence few are eager to give up. It can also be a thorny subject for adult children trying to determine whether a parent should remain behind the wheel.

Vaccaro says the AARP program offers a comfortable way for people who are aging and their loved ones to engage in the issue of driving safety. The focus of the program is not on asking drivers to give up their licenses, but rather, on helping them improve their skills and recognize changes in their abilities.

The eight hour course includes lessons about how vision, hearing, reaction time and physical fitness change along with aging, and how medication and alcohol affect drivers. Other topics raised during the course include safe following distances, safety while reversing, and tips for driving in bad weather.

“You have to remember that the course is designed for people 50 and above, so everybody has started to change their vision and reaction time, so we talk about that and how it affects their driving,” Vaccaro said.

Vaccaro has been teaching the course for 12 years, and currently works in Somersworth, Rochester and Portsmouth.

“People should not be judged -- their driving ability should not be judged -- by their age,” he said. “They should be judged by their abilities.”

Some suggest that implementing special testing programs for drivers over a certain age could improve safety on the roadways. However, research is mixed on whether restrictions for older drivers actually keep those who are going to crash off the road, according to Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

While older drivers do have fatal crash rates that approach those of teenagers -- especially after age 75 -- the comparison is misleading because teens and older drivers aren’t getting into the same kinds of crashes, Rader said.

Research shows elderly drivers don’t speed as frequently as younger drivers, and they’re also less apt to be distracted while driving.

When they do get into crashes, older drivers are more at risk of being seriously injured or killed. But contrary to conventional wisdom, they are not a big risk to other drivers on the road, Rader said. Elderly drivers tend to self-regulate and cut back on driving when they recognize their own impairments, he said.

“The picture is actually improving for older drivers,” he said. “Research shows that they’re getting into fewer crashes -- especially serious ones -- than they did 10 or 15 years ago.”

It’s also not clear what kinds of testing programs targeted at older drivers would better enable motor vehicle officials to identify those who are problematic, he said.

Some evidence suggests requiring older drivers to come into the DMV in person to renew their licenses can increase safety because drivers who recognize their own limitations often give up their licenses rather than risk going into the DMV and failing a test.

Some states also have special provisions around the licensing of older drivers.

California and Maryland have studied tiered screening tests for older drivers. Iowa has experimented with capping the range older drivers can travel.

Until last year, New Hampshire also had a special provision in place. Anyone 75 or older was previously required to take a road test when renewing a license. That program was repealed in 2011, and there are now no special requirements for the testing of drivers at any age, besides an initial road test for new drivers, according to Jim Van Dongen, public information officer for the state Department of Safety. Renewing a license does require taking a vision test, however.

Family members, police officers and medical providers can also report directly to the DMV an individual who appears to no longer be capable of driving safely, Van Dongen said.

The driver is asked to appear at a hearing where a DMV examiner determines their eligibility to retain a license.

“Giving up a driver’s license in New Hampshire is a big deal because most places don’t have public transportation ...” Van Dongen said. “If you’re in the Seacoast, there’s a certain amount of bus service ... but it’s not like we’ve got a subway system like Boston or anything like that. So when you give up your driver’s license, you give up a certain amount of freedom. It’s not an easy thing to accept.”

Community Action Partnership of Strafford County offers its own transportation program for seniors, according to Community Services and Outreach Director Susan Geier. The small program currently operates four days per week, with one driver and a single vehicle. People age 60 and over are eligible for rides to various shops and grocery stores around Strafford County.

The program has regular routes, but unlike a fixed-route program, riders are picked up at the door and helped on and off the bus, according to Geier.

Strafford County’s CAP agency is a member of the Alliance for Community Transportation, a regional organization that works to broaden access to transportation around the Seacoast.

Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation (COAST), which operates local bus service, offers federally-mandated paratransit service to riders with physical and cognitive disabilities, some of whom are seniors, according to Executive Director Rad Nichols.

Paratransit service is offered to those living in a radius of about 1.5 miles of COAST’s fixed bus routes. COAST currently operates routes in Farmington, Rochester, Somersworth, Dover, Newington, Portsmouth, Greenland, Stratham, Newmarket and Exeter, as well as Berwick, Maine.

COAST has also been endeavoring for a number of years to increase community transportation options targeted toward seniors and people with disabilities, Nichols said.

One such offering is the North Bus, a relatively new route that services residents of New Durham, Middleton, Milton, Wakefield and Brookfield. The service connects riders with shopping centers and pharmacies in Rochester.

Nichols said demand has risen sharply during the past four years for COAST’s paratransit service. Some of the demand was driven by a shift in the local availability of dialysis centers, Nichols said.

COAST administrators are concerned about meeting the increased demand, given restraints on federal and state funding, he said.

“I’m becoming increasingly concerned about our commitment at the federal and state levels to supporting programs that are critical to individuals remaining independent, which ultimately reflects back on quality of life,” he said